hot for the teacher
by Hidding-In-Shadows
Summary: Maka always wanted to become someone who left a mark on the world. She never thought her legacy would be educating eight-year-olds basic skills. Now in her first year of teaching, Maka is realizing that being the top student in college is different from being an effective teacher. And it doesn't help that her newly appointed co-teacher is annoyingly better than her. And attractive.
1. chapter one

chapter one

* * *

She is up before the alarm goes off and she wonders if _this_ is what first day jitters feels like even though it's not her first day. _The kids don't come for another week._ It's a mantra in her head, but her heart still flutters as she glances towards the outfit she had hanging on the closet door. Its a basic skirt and button down combo, but she's beginning to doubt her choice.

The beeping of the coffee machine pulls her away from the doubt and she shuffles out of the room. One cup of coffee later and she is deciding what cereal to eat. Chocolate bunnies or cinnamon bunnies? As she's balancing the boxes in her hands, the familiar ringtone of _my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, and they're like, it's better than -_

"I thought you slept in until the last minute," Maka decides on the chocolate shaped bunnies as she answers. A laugh crackles over the phone and she winced. Just because her mind decided to wake up at five in the morning didn't mean she wasn't affected by the sharpness of Blake's … everything. "Seriously, Blake, what's up?"

"Don't sound so excited to talk to your best friend, Maka," the familiar voice fills her ear as she presses the phone between shoulder and cheek, "I wanted to check on you. First day jitters?"

"Can that even happen if it isn't my official first day?"

"Kids come next week, Maks, and this week is going to be filled with silly meetings and trainings. Don't be so nervous."

"Well you're a natural," Maka hunts for a spoon in the clean side of her sink, "and you've been there for three years."

"Everyone starts somewhere," something in the background muffles Blake's voice, "and three years isn't a lot of time."

"Yeah, whatever," Maka begins to move the cereal around in her bowl, making sure every chocolate bunny is covered in milk before taking a bite. "We have to be there at seven-thirty, right?"

"Yes ma'am," she rolls her eyes at his tone, "anyways, I just wanted to check up on you. I know how nerves can be and I need to make sure my college buddy is ready for the big world."

"I think I was ready before I even went to college, Blake. Remember, it was _you_ who thought I was in my final internship."

"Eh, the past is the past. I'm gonna go." The call ends abruptly and Maka puckers her lips as she looks at the _End Call_ screen. He was never good at goodbyes.

She sighs as she looks at the chocolate bunnies floating in her milk. She stirs them around a bit and suddenly is being pulled back into her thoughts.

She graduated, moved across the county, and got a job, all in the year. She thinks back to her first day of college, walking into her Introduction to Education class and snickering when Blake Star, a crazed looking frat boy, waved her down because he wanted to complement her trench coat. He had asked if she was the other speaker coming in for the freshman.

He then continued to talk and talk about how his junior year was going and his professors. He even asked her questions before answering them himself. After a full five minutes of him holding a conversation with just himself, she slumped down next to him in the chair and nodded along. The look in his eyes when she stood up and introduced herself as a student in the class was priceless.

Something wraps a warm tail around her leg, breaking Maka from her train of thought. She looks down to see her cat, lithe and black, curling around her leg. Her yellow eyes pierce up towards Maka. Maka leans down to give her a scratch under her chin.

"Lilith," Maka sighs as she discards the rest of her cereal onto the growing pile of dishes in her sink, "I hope everything goes okay today. I mean, I'm sure there will be some boring meetings and a lot of paperwork but ... ," Maka stops and laughs to herself a little bit, "I am venting to my cat. And now I am talking to myself. Teacher brain has already begun."

The cafeteria has tables folded and pushed to the side and there are rows of chairs for the morning meeting. She is the first one in the room, and there's a distinct smell of cream cheese and coffee in the air from the complimentary snack table in the corner. Maka shifts the bag on her shoulder and debates if she should move toward the front or fall into the back.

Before she can make a decision, the doors to the cafeteria swing open and Blake comes in with a bellowing laugh and two others behind him. His hair is dyed a neon blue, matching one of the school colors, and his green eyes twinkle. He sports an old school shirt for DWMA, gym shorts, and beat up Nikes, but Maka didn't expect anything else from the P.E. teacher.

"Maks!" He hollars her name even though she is only a few feet away from him, "always the early bird."

"Good morning to you too, Blake," she smiles and her grip on her bag strap lessens. She moves toward the small group. Blake's smile grows some more and then he blinks as if realizing something before twisting to the two people behind him.

"Barret, Nyga, this is Maka Albarn, the new third grade teacher! She's my friend I told you guys about."

Behind Blake are two other people, one man who stands a good head and a half taller than Blake and a woman who is about Blake's height. They man's dreadlocks fall just past his ears and his eyes are dark and warm as he gives Maka a smile. His hand is rough in her own when he shakes it. He wears similar attire to Blake, and Maka guesses he is the other P.E. teacher.

"Sid Barret, but everyone really goes by last names here," his voice is deep and friendly, "and this is Mira Nyga-Barret, my wife. I work with Star here as a P.E. coach and Nyga here is our lovely math coach for the school."

"So you'll be seeing me a lot," Nyga speaks and her voice is strong, as strong as her deep blue eyes, "I've heard good things about you from Star and Dr. Mortimor. I look forward to working with you this year."

"Likewise," Maka smiles and shakes Nyga's hand as well, "I'm excited to start my career here. It feels unreal getting my first year position at DWMA."

"Well, there's a reason we have Academy in the name," Barret begins to move towards the chair,s "you'll start to notice, though, that as bright as our kids are, there are some troubles because of home situations. It wasn't a mistake when Dr. Mortimor placed the Academy here."

"It's important that all kids have access to arts and science," Maka says as she settles down in one of the chairs. They were in the middle of the rows, a comfortable distance from the front.

"We pride ourselves in it," Nygas adjusts herself, smoothing her hands over the long, dark blue skirt she wears,"especially the arts. Every year our art teacher has created a statue with the graduating fifth grade class. They're placed all around the school. Maybe Blake can give you an official tour so you can see everything."

"She'll want to see her classroom first," Blake leans back on two legs of the chair, hands clasped behind his head, "besides, I think Dr. Mortimor or Ms. Leon will do the tour. They kinda run this place."

The doors open again and more voices fill the cafeteria. Barret excuses himself to go talk to the group that just walked in as Nyga and Blake begin to get into a conversation about scheduling. Maka sits with her bag between her feet and begins to fiddle with a loose string at the hem of her sweater. Slowly, as the cafeteria becomes filled with staff members, Maka's nerves begin to increase. There's easily fifty people in the cafeteria now, mingling and roaming around. Some talk and laugh while others are scroll on their phones. Maka feels welcomed and shut out all at the same time - no one has eyed her up and down, but also no one has come over to welcome her to the school. She tries to slow down the blooming feeling of anxiety in her chest.

"Welcome, welcome," a high voice purrs over the intercom system in the cafeteria and everyone begins to lower their voices, "welcome back teachers and staff members! We have a meeting at seven thirty in the cafeteria with bagels and coffee, complimentary from the PTA. Make sure to grab a snack, find a seat, and get ready for some icebreakers to start us off right for this new year!"

"You must be the new third grade teacher," the voice came from beside her and Maka jumps slightly as she turns to see a woman older than her standing there. Her blonde hair is cut short and choppy, and it holds a slight curl. She wears a black turtleneck and dark business pants, and Maka can tell from the look in her hazel eyes that this woman is judging her.

"Yeah, I'm Maka Albarn," she plasters her best real-looking-fake-smile on as she holds her hand out, "excited to be joining the team!"

The woman looks at Maka's hand for a moment before reaching out and shaking it. Her long black nails tap against Maka's skin. "Medusa Gorgon. I'm the other third grade teacher. I'm right next door to you."

"So will you be my mentor?" Maka asks, letting her hand fall into her lap while Medusa raises a perfectly plucked eyebrow into a deep arch. "I mean, when I went to my new teacher orientation they told me -,"

"Wait, you're a first year teacher?" Medusa points a finger towards Maka as if accusing her of something. Maka's eyes go crossed for a moment as they track the nail. She looks back to Medusa. She simply nods with her tight smile and Medusa purses her lips before returning an equally tight smile. "Well, it looks like we'll be working pretty closely. I'm going to have to guide you towards not screwing the kids up too bad this year."

"Excuse me?"

"Maks!" Blake's voice cuts through the tension that is beginning to build between the two teachers and they both look to see the man standing a few chairs away, hands on hips and stupid grin plastered to his face. "Come get some snacks. I can introduce you to some of the others!"

"Well, that's my cue," Maka stands and hoists her bag onto her shoulder. She gives Medusa another smile, "I look forward to working with you this year."

"Likewise," Medusa's eyes trail over Maka one last time before she turns on a heel and goes towards the front of the cafeteria. There is a tight, eerie feeling in Maka's belly, but she pushes it down and turns to join Blake at the bagel table.

"The Thompson Sisters," Blake makes a wide arm gesture towards two women who look like they should be models instead of working in a school.

The tall one has her hair down, long and straight, glossy in the fluorescent light. Her features are slightly accentuated with makeup and she smiles with her pink tinted lips. The outfit she wears looks like it has been pulled straight out of a teacher Instagram account; light washed high waisted jeans, a pale green button down blouse, and a slightly over large tan-and-brown plaid blazer. She's tall and slim, but the heeled boots she wears make her even taller, closer to Barret's height.

The girl next to her is the total opposite, though equally stunning. Her face is round and her cheeks are dusted pink. Baby blue eyes sparkle under thick lashes and she has a bubbly smile as she reaches out for a hug. Her dress sways around her calves as she moves in and squeals as she squeezes Maka against her chest.

"Maka Albarn! Our new third grade teacher! I am so excited to work with you!" The bubbly woman's voice matches her personality perfectly.

"Star's told us a lot about you," the tall one smiles and it's blindingly beautiful. "I'm Elizabeth, but you can call me Liz. Patti is the one who goes by Ms. Thompson."

"Thanks for the warm welcome," Maka pulls back and blushes under their gaze, "and I hope it's all good things he's told you."

"Well graduating top of your class with recommendations from almost all your professors is quite a sign," Liz waves her hand in the air, her pale pink nails manicured to perfection, "I may have peeked into your files online. I'm the family services and volunteer coordinator by the way. So you'll see me running around here."

"And I'm the school counselor," the other one, Patti Thompson, said. "I'll be coming in to talk to your kiddos during the school year. You'll hear from me a lot."

"Let's not overwhelm her just yet, girls," Blake clasps a hand on Maka's shoulder and flashes his usual big, dumb grin, "the Doc should be in soon to start this thing off. Let's go back to our seats, Maks."

Maka settles back down with Blake next to her and Barret on the other side. It felt odd being between the two P.E. coaches, but something inside of Maka tells her she should stay as separated from Medusa as she can before the school year starts. The chattering in the cafeteria had begun to settle down and soon everyone was facing the stage, waiting for Dr. Mortimor to come out. The clock ticks and ticks, people whisper, and then finally the man steps out on stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen," his voice is high and holds a playful tone. Dr. Mortimor is a tall man, towering on the stage, and he wears a crisp black suit with a pale blue shirt underneath it. His black hair is gelled back, hazel eyes sparkling behind a pair for wide, black rimmed glasses. His mustache is twisted at the ends, and Maka imagines his smile hidden behind it as if he were a cartoon character.

"Welcome back," Dr. Mortimor continues with arms outstretched, "as you may have noticed, there are a few new faces around here! I want us to go around and introduce ourselves quickly, then we'll get into our real icebreaker activity!"

Her heart pounds at the mention of an icebreaker activity, but Maka knew this would happen. She's a teacher for goodness sakes, she designs icebreaker activities for a living. But, even as people introduce themselves and their jobs, along with something they did over the summer, Maka feels her heart sped up as her time comes closer and closer. The sentences she is going say repeat in her mind as everyone goes, and soon it's Nyga's turn, then Barrets, then hers.

"Good morning," she smiles and silently curses at herself at the way her voice hitches, "I'm Maka Albarn. I'm the new third grade teacher. Something fun I did over the summer was get an apartment."

"Where is it," someone calls out.

"Grigori Gardens," Maka wrings her hands in front of her, "and this is my first year teaching."

Some people let out a congratulations and others give a simple clap. Maka pushes her flush down and nods at everyone before taking her seat. Blake springs up next to her and starts going off as Maka tries to breath and calm down her nerves. She was used to speaking in front of a group of five year olds, last year she spent the whole school year in a kindergarten class for her final internship. Standing in front of a bunch of adults was a totally different story.

Once everyone had introduced themselves, they turned their chairs toward a large projector screen that was lowered above the stage..

"Time to do our quick icebreaker! Mrs. Leon will be passing around a slip of paper to everyone. I want you to do Two Truths and a Lie. Then we will go around and share with small groups with Life Boats! Directions are on the powerpoint let's go-go-go!"

The man's peppy personality did not match that of his outward appearance, and Maka noted that she might need to be extra-extroverted with the man. She receives her slip from Mrs. Leon, the assistant principal who had a dazzling smile and a perfectly tailored power suit. The activity is pretty simple and fun, she gets into three different groups and everyone laughs and guesses at what the truths are and what the lies are. She gets to meet a few other teachers; two fifth grade teachers, a resource teacher, and the art teacher that was mentioned before. Once the activity is over, a few details regarding the weeks schedule are given, then the teachers are dismissed to their rooms.

"I can show you your classroom," Blake slaps his knees and jumps out of his seat, "and help you move stuff. We don't have too much to do right now, plus, Barrett said he would be the ball-checker today and I just needed to clean up the office."

"Thanks, Star," Maka sighs as she stands, adjusting her bag on her shoulder, "I have a lot though, are you sure you've got time?"

"For you Maks, anything."

"You really do have a lot of shit," Blake huffs, a sweat breaking out across his forehead as he places the last box down. Maka nods and takes in the room. It is large and carpeted. When she walked in, she literally gasped. Looking into the class, there is a smartboard mounted to the left wall, then three, tall ceiling windows on the opposite wall to the door. Another door is diagonally across the room, an emergency escape. Then, the wall where the main entrance was was covered with a large whiteboard and two corkboards flanking it. There weren't many corkboard spaces, and Maka knew she would have to figure out how to decorate them later, but everything is lovely.

There is even a large wall of cabinetry against the wall across from the smartboard and an island where a few laptops and tablets are piled up. Desks are scattered around the room, and various group tables. Three large bookshelves are in a corner and she already knows she is going to move them. Her boxes sat stacked near the entrance, piled high, along with furniture she had brought.

"Well, I'm gonna head off now," Blake wipes his forehead with the back of his hand, "let me know if you need anything, okay Maks?"

"You got it," she smiles, "thanks again."

He leaves and Maka ties her hair up tighter and gets to work. It's hours of moving desks, humming to herself, and dusting things off. She hunts through all the cabinets, making piles of math, science, and reading resources and another pile of garbage. The desks are arranged into the center of the room and the book shelves are standing side-by-side against one of the tall windows when it's all done. There's decorations laying around, random piles that no one could deceiver, except for her. She is laying on the group carpet, sweaty and exhausted by the time five o'clock hits. And there's still _so much more_ to do.

"Wow, you didn't get much done did you?" a voice calls and Maka jumps, sitting straight up. She turns toward where the voice came from, a door that connects her classroom to the one next door, and sees Medusa Gorgon leaning on the door frame.

"Yeah, I mean, I went through all the cabinets and piled some stuff up so I knew what to do with it tomorrow," Maka stands up and brushes at her skirt, "what about you?"

"Oh, I'm all set," Medusa looks at her nails, "student's desks are arranged, set up the library, even got to laminate a handful of questions stems for my small groups."

"Sound productive," Maka leans back on her heels, "well, I think I am going to head out now, it's getting late and I live pretty far still."

"You're going to leave it like this?" she raises a perfectly plucked eyebrow at the state of the room. "Well, I guess so, if you're planning on coming early tomorrow."

"I-I wasn't," Maka feels herself flush with frustration and embarrassment, "but I'm confident that everything will get done."

"Cute," Medusa's tone is flat and she pushes off of the doorframe, "well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Have a good night," the door slams as Maka says her goodbye and she feels herself scowl. Who knows how this will work out.

She takes one last look at her room, heart fluttering with excitement and nervousness. Her teammate may have some discouraging words, but Maka knew how she felt. Confident, sure, and down right ready for her own students.


	2. chapter two

chapter two

* * *

"I am not ready," Maka groans, slumping in her chair as Blake gives her the look from where he stands in her classroom.

She finished setting it up two days ago. Her cork boards are draped in yellow butcher paper and bordered with different rainbow patterns. There's various streamers and decorations across the top of her whiteboard, and a magnetic holder with rainbow expo markers waiting to be used. The student's desks are arranged into groups of four with one group of five, all of them at a slant towards the whiteboard. Her whole room is on a slant in the same direction, but it still felt spacious.

She laid down some rainbow carpets in the library and a few yellow and orange pillows. There's lap desks and yoga ball seats stacked in the back corner for students to use when needed, and she even had the standards for the first unit in all content areas written on the board.

"You're ready," Blake walks to her desk and sits on one of the stools she spray painted to match her theme, "what's psyching you out?"

"I'm gonna fuck it up," she groans again, "I just got the roster and I don't know who to place where. I don't know their levels, I don't have data folders, I don't know what to do."

"Maks," she peeks from under her bangs. Blake's arms are folded and he had the look on his face again that basically says are you serious, "you're a first year teacher. Everyone knows you're just now getting ready and you don't know everything and that is fine. That's why you have Medusa," Maka snorts at the mention of her teammate, "and you have a whole staff ready to help you."

"But I don't want to have to ask, I feel like I should already know what to do! I went through four years of college for it!"

"If you were supposed to know everything about your job, you wouldn't be a teacher."

She nods to his words and looks at the roster on her desk. Seventeen names, seventeen little minds in the palm of her hands. Seventeen futures she needs to teach and guide. Seventeen lives she is going to influence for forever.

"Don't zone off," Blake snaps his fingers in front of her, "I see it on your face. You're going to be fine. Remember, I'm here if you need anything. And the whole staff."

He leaves then, leaving Maka sitting in silence in her room. She takes one last look at the roster, takes a deep breath and goes to work.

She is sitting on the floor, feeding sheets of lamination filled with name tags, calendar numbers, and probing questions, when her door opens. She doesn't even turn around, figuring it's Blake, and continued doing her work. But the throat clear behind her is unusual and she turns around to see someone who is definitely not Blake.

He's tall, taller than Blake. A t-shirt marked with an inspiring quote is taunt across his chest. His hair is bleach white, eyes blood red, and face grimacing from the smell of lamination. His eyes wander over the room before falling back onto her and his lips twitch into a smile, though it looked painful.

"Maka Albarn?" his voice is gravelly as he adjusted the one-strap bag across his chest.

"In the flesh," she pulls the laminated sheet from the machine and stands up, knees popping from sitting for so long. "Are you the tech guy? My smartboard hasn't been working properly and I'm not sure how to set it up to my laptop."

"No, I'm not," he walks into the room, the door closing behind him, "but I can help you with that. The name is Soul Evans."

"Evans? Are you the music teacher?"

"No, that would be my brother," he scratches the back his head and his eyes flick around the room again, "it's pretty bright in here. Kinda hurts the eyes."

"Well, yellow is a positive color," Maka crosses her arms, "I don't want to be rude or anything, but who are you exactly?"

"They didn't tell you?" he cocks a snowy brow. Maka shakes her head and shifts her weight. "Figures. This district sucks. I'm your new co."

"Co?"

"Co-Teacher. They increased the class size and hired me to teach with you. We have twenty-six little demons to teach together." He swings his bag around himself as the floor falls from under Maka's feet. He digs inside his bag before pulling out of a manila folder and hands it to her. Inside is a class roster with both of their names at the top and the names of twenty-six students. Some of them were from her original roster and the others were names she didn't recognize. If felt like the world had froze.

"Twenty-six?" Her voice hitches and she feels her heart pick up. Breathe, her mind tells her, but words are jumping around in her head and she can't catch them.

"You had no idea," Soul sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, "okay, let's go see the Doc and talk this out. We have time still to sort out some room stuff, discuss the lessons for the first week, maybe we can meet-up -,"

"I can't teach twenty-six kids," she clutches the papers, knuckles white, "I could barely wrap my head around seventeen kids. But twenty-six? That's crazy! And now you need a-a desk?"

"Are you okay?" He knitts his eyebrows together, "I mean, we just have to do a couple trainings together to get the hang of what to do and how our styles work. I've co-taught in the past, so it won't be too bad. Haven't you worked with, like, assistants?"

"This is my first year," she all but whimpers, looking at him. Then the tears start and she lets out a groan, spinning around and walking to her desk. She slumps behind it and looks at the list in her hands again, tears rolling down her cheeks. She lets out a deep, shaking breath and leans forward, fingers digging into the tightness at the top of her ponytail.

"Okay, so," Soul's voice is moving closer to her, more calming than his previous tone, "we'll go to the Doc, see where the message got missed. Then, we'll figure out where to go from there, right?"

"It doesn't matter," her voice is breaking, "it's already done. It's not like-like going back through files will prepare us for what is to come. I mean, look, I am already a mess and kids haven't even shown up yet!"

"Every teacher has a messy spot."

"You should check out our teammate," Maka snorts and sits back up taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. "Sorry, I didn't mean to have an … outburst like that. Just, just give me a second."

"Okay."

She hears the sound of chair feet moving across the carpet and feels his presence across from her. She wonders if he thinks she is a freak, some kind of crazy lady who shouldn' be teaching. But, when she opens her eyes, now free of tears, he is simply sitting with his cheek in palm and eyes half-lidded as if there was no care in the world; as if he didn't just see his now co-teacher ball her eyes out and whine for a solid minute.

His eyes catch hers and he smirks a little. "You okay now?"

"'M okay," Maka sighs, resisting the urge to allow more tears to fall, "okay, okay. Just ... I'm gonna run to the bathroom and try not look like I just bawled my eyes out for a whole minute."

"I'll meet you in the Doc's office," Soul makes the way towards her - their classroom door. "And Maka? Don't worry. It'll be okay. We can talk about the details and whatnot later. We're partners this year so, let's keep it cool, yeah?"

"Yeah," she smiles, eyes beginning to feel less puffy, "see you in Dr. Mortimor's office."

"The order came through about three days ago," Dr. Mortimor is sitting in his office chair, looking at his dual screen computer, and twisting an end of his moustache between his fingers. "I requested another unit to be added because of enrollment, but the district decided to do a co-teaching classroom instead. So, I conducted some interviews and then told them my picks. They had the ultimate decision and then sent a message to our secretary. She then put the letter in Ms. Gorgon's box to deliver to you, Ms. Albarn, because your mailbox isn't set up yet."

"What?" Maka feels her face go white, "But I never got that letter."

"I'll talk to Ms. Gorgon," Dr. Mortimor turns in his chair and faces the two. "But for now, take the rest of the day as a chance to get to know each other and add some of Mr. Evans touch to the classroom! I am sure there only needs to be a few adjustments to make Mr. Evans comfortable. Isn't that right?"

Soul puckers his lips slightly at Dr. Mortimor's words but nods nonetheless. Dr. Moritmor smiles at both of them and then stands up, revealing that his bottom half is a pair of cargo shorts while his upper half dons a light blue button down and matching tie combo. His smile seems to get larger, upper lip twitching with his moustache. He excuses himself to go to a meeting and then disappears through his office door.

"So, what do you do in your free-time?" Soul smirks and Maka glares at him, crossing her arms.

"You can't just joke at a time like this! And I can't believe they just dumped you here, without telling me." The two start making their way back to her - their classroom.

"I guess they tried to," Soul buries his hands into his pockets, "I mean, who is Ms. Gorgon that was mentioned?"

"That one teammate I mentioned even earlier. She's, ah, kinda reserved. But she's the team-leader because there's only two classrooms. She's also my mentor. She's mostly just given me some extra books from her library to add to mine. That's really it."

"She's supposed to give you resources and information from the different meetings she attends," Soul opens the door for Maka to her - their classroom, and she mutters a thanks, "let's see if she put the letter on your desk. Or maybe just forgot?"

"You obviously haven't even been in the same room as her," Maka snorts, rubbing her hands over her face, "she drains the life out of any environment. She told me I was gonna screw up the kids."

"That's not a very helpful mentor," Soul looks around the room, "so maybe we should move on from the letter. I'm here, I'm getting paid. You're here, you're getting paid. And, we can't change what the district wants. So, let's talk room arrangements. Now that there's more kids, we need to straighten this place out."

"And we need more desks." Maka adds.

"And a group table for me."

"And more materials."

"Laptops."

"Library books."

The two look at each other and Maka feels a twinge of tension hit her. Her face flushes, with frustration or embarrassment, she isn't sure. And, she isn't sure if she wants to think too hard about which one it may be.

She sighs and rolls her shoulders before tightening her ponytail. The two scanned the room and almost naturally they both head for the desks and start rearranging them. She had originally made the desks into groups, but because of the increase of students, they adjust the desks into more of a row style, putting three desks in each row and then making two columns with a big aisle down the middle. Soul excuses himself for a moment after they arrange the desks and returned with the custodian and ten more desks.

They move the desks, change a group table to Soul's desk, and set up the laptops into an accessible cabinet. While Soul ensures the laptops chargers are working, Maka moves bookshelves and creates a larger, wider classroom library. Slowly but surely, the room becomes a space that can comfortably hold twenty-six kids and two adults.

A list had been made of the additional things they needed, materials from the store for students and supplies the school needed to provide. They sit at Maka's desk, hunched over and mumbling about who will take what responsibility when Blake shows up with a bag of take-out.

"You must be Wes's brother," Blake settles at Maka's desk and starts digging for food in the bag.

"The one and only," Soul takes a container of lo mein from the man with a nod, "it's going to be a little weird working with him after all this time, but I guess it's cool."

"Did you guys use to work together before?" Maka asks, twisting a forkful from her own container of lo mein. The two of them had been so focused on fixing the room up they didn't have time to actually get to know each other.

"No, when he got his degree he moved here. I stayed up north for a little longer and moved down here a few years ago. I was a reading coach at Brook Elementary but then Wes told me about your school, I contacted Doc about any positions and interviewed for here. District had the ultimate say though, as we found out."

"So you're a reading coach?"

"I have a Kindergarten through 5th Grade Bachelor's Degree with Reading and ESE Endorsements. So when I got hired on at Brook, they used me for Reading."

"I guess it must have been nice to focus on one thing," Maka looks at her food, pushing it around, "thinking about planning for all four subjects gives me a little anxiety."

"Aren't you team planning?" Blake raises a brow, "Sid and I split the semester. I get K-2 planning and he does 3-5 and then we swap. Some classroom teachers will split the subjects."

"Ah, no, I haven't heard anything from Gorgon. She's barely spoken to me."

"You should talk to the Doc about that," Soul pushes the remainder of his dinner forward, "A mentor is supposed to actually help you, you know. I'm gonna leave now, though. I'll get here early to get some of the materials from our list. You guys have a good night."

"You too," Blake cracks a big smile, "look forward to working with you!"

"I'll swing by the store tomorrow morning to get more notebooks and folders," Maka smiles gently toward Soul who returns the gesture, "get enough sleep, long day tomorrow."

Soul nods and leaves, closing the door gently behind him. Maka breaks her gaze from where Soul left and looks to Blake who was leaning back and smirking dangerously. She rolls her eyes and feels her cheeks flush before mumbling at him to shut up and help her clean up their dinner.


	3. chapter three

chapter three

* * *

She's sitting at her desk, crying, because of folders. Folders. She put the wrong labels on the wrong colors. Yellow folders are for reading and blue are for writing, but she flipped them and they're labeled wrong. She is a blubbering mess over stupid folders.

That's how Soul found her in their classroom; at her desk with the folders piled in front of her, a yellow one in one hand and a blue in the other. He has two coffees and his hair is disheveled, eyes sunken in, but he is ultimately startled because, first, she's there way earlier than him, and second, she's crying over folders.

"I brought you coffee," he says, trying to break her out of it, but that just makes her drop the folders and cry more.

"I-I put the wr-wrong labels," she says between sobs, "on-on the wr-wrong colors! Now we ha-have to change the-the whole theme and-and move re-reading to blue and wr-writing to yellow and-and that makes no sense!"

"Maka," he sits down at her desk and pushes the folders away from her and onto the floor, "they're just folders. We can relabel them."

"But that's more time! I haven't even planned out this week, or homework, or jobs for them or even made all the name tags for their desks! Plus, the library is still a mess, almost nothing that needs to be laminated is ready, and we have Open House tomorrow, as well as the first day of school -,"

"There's two of us, we can share the load," he cuts her off and pushes one of the coffees toward her. "Let me tell you about my first year because it was crazy and unorganized, but I got through it. On the first day, I got the kids to lunch almost twenty minutes late, totally forgot to bring them to specials, and mixed up my bus riders with car riders."

"We need to make a chart for that," Maka sniffs as she wraps her hands around the coffee cup, "a How I Get Home chart."

"Stop thinking about what we need to do for a moment," he gives her the look and she swallows tightly. "Another thing that happened, almost lost a kid. She thought she was suppose to walk home but it turned out that a family friend was coming to walk with her. The girl ended up walking all the way home on her own, couldn't get in the house, and went to the neighbors. The parents called the police because they didn't know where she was."

"Well that's not your fault," Maka looks at her coffee, "Isn't the front office supposed to tell you all the details?"

"It doesn't matter, what matters is that you understand your first year of teaching is going to be the most disorganized, hot mess in all of your teaching years. But every year is kinda like that too, in one way or another. Plus, you have me on your side. I've been teaching for seven years now so I have a general idea of what is going on. I'm not an expert, but we will definitely get through this year."

Maka closes her eyes and takes a long sip at the coffee. It's a little more bitter than she's used to, but the caffeine helps her clear her mind. She took a deep breath before she opens her eyes again and nods to Soul.

"Okay, we've got this, I got this."

"You got this," he smirks and she couldn't help but notice the way the corner of his eyes crinkle slightly. She felt herself flush when she realizes she's looking at her partner's little details and curses herself internally. This is her co-worker, her co-teacher, and that is definitely not allowed if they are working together all year.

"I'll start printing new labels for the folders," Soul leans back in the chair, sipping on his own coffee, "and you can put them on as I print them. Double hands, quicker work. Then, you can get started on K through M in the library and I'll do N through P. Whatever isn't labeled or looks out of level, we'll make a pile and deal with later."

"Deal," she sighs, relaxing instantly, "how are you so good at sorting out all the shit we have to do."

"Seven years," he gives her a wink as he stands up and Maka feels herself flush. "Let me just go get the rest of the stuff from my car and we can start up."

As he leaves, Maka groans to herself, slumping into the back of her chair and sipping gingerly at the coffee. She's doomed.

She's sitting on the carpet, thumbing through a basket of books to make sure all of the level L books are in it when the adjacent door opens. Medusa leans on the door frame. Soul isn't in the room. He went on a vending machine run for the two of them. (Soda, chocolate and Cheez-it's had become her diet as of late.) Maka says this all aloud and realizes that Medusa hasn't even met the man.

"A co-teacher?" she asks, flipping blonde hair over her shoulder, "Oh, I forgot about that. What is she like?"

"He. His name is Soul," Maka stays on the ground, trying not to grit her teeth together, "he's Wes's brother."

"Oh, him? I heard he was fired from Brooks. Weird, I didn't think we could hire terminated teachers for the school year."

"Maybe not everything is as you hear," Maka whips her head around, "isn't that something a teacher should know by now?"

Medusa purses her lips and looks around the room.

"Seems like you still have a lot to do."

"Just a little more organizing, we should be ready for tomorrow just fine."

"I'm just sitting back and typing up my lessons for the month."

"About that," Maka stands up, wincing at how tense her legs are, "are we sharing plans? Blake said it was usual for units to share the workload, like I do one subject, you do one, and Soul does another."

"I don't share my lessons," Medusa rolls her eyes, "if you can't write your own lessons, you shouldn't be teaching."

"I mean, I can write my own lessons but I just thought -,"

"They only had Dr. Pepper," Soul walks through the classroom door, sodas in hand and bags of M&M's stuffed in his pockets. He is startled to see the adjacent door open but cracks a tense smile. "You must be Ms. Gorgon. Soul Evans."

"You were at Brooks, right?" She tilts her head with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Yes, but I'm here now," Soul shifts his weight and Maka feels the tension between the two slowly begin to form.

"Is that from choice, or something else?"

"It has nothing to do with you, so I don't think it's your business."

Maka holds back a noise as her eyes widen at his response. Medusa send daggers to him.

"Well, I like to know who I am working with. I know Maka here has her first year ahead of her and got in because of Blake-,"

"I did not get in-,"

"But from my understanding, Wes didn't mention his brother would be joining us this school year. So, choice or …,"

"We have a classroom to set up," a muscle ticks in his jaw as he clenches it, "excuse us. We have twenty-six kids to prepare for."

He all but pushes her through the doorway as he pushes the adjacent door closed with his foot, slamming it. There is a slight chuckle from the other side and Maka feels herself fume. She watches as Soul's shoulders roll and he turns away from the door, a snarl on his face.

"She's pleasant," he grumbles as he makes his way toward where Maka is. She shrugs and took the soda from him, cracking it open.

"She's also my mentor," Maka sighs, sinking back down to the floor, "and our teammate so we have to at least try to get along."

"She's like a bunch of other experienced teachers I've met," Soul sat next to Maka and pulls over a basket of books he's working on, "entitled, sandoff-ish, and bitchy."

Maka snorts as she sipped her soda, fingers playing with a spare thread from the rug they sat on. They sit in silence, sipping on their drinks and looking around the room, taking in how their classroom was.

They had made some slight adjustments, changed out all of the bright, yellow butcher paper against Maka's wishes, and color coordinated the boards to subjects. Math was orange, science was green, writing was blue, and reading was yellow. The boarders stayed, though, bright and rainbow.

Each board had been labeled with cursive letters that Maka made herself. Soul put up learning boards for each subject as well, explaining to Maka how they tracked the progress across a standard easily and could be switched out. It was a much better option than writing out the standard per day.

One section of the whiteboard had been dedicated to the students, a calendar and a list of jobs with each kid's name clipped to a job. A chart had been made for how students got home, a birthday poster with each student's name written carefully in each month. And, lastly, a section for the quote of the week. Soul and Maka had decided that they would start each week with a quote, allowing students to write it down and respond to it within a journal. Whoever had the best response would take the quote home on a decorated paper. The first quote was already written, something Soul had picked and said was important to keep in mind no matter your age.

Mistakes are proof that you are trying.

"I know it's none of my business," Maka breaks the silence, "and you basically told Medusa to fuck off when she asked, but ... did you leave Brook by choice?"

He's quiet for a moment, the only sound in the room the A/C clicking off. He taps a finger against the can before bringing it to his lips to take another sip.

"It was strongly suggested," he looks down at the rug, "I was leaving the school and saw one of the kids get kicked out of their car and left behind. So I pulled up to him and gave him a ride home. I made sure another teacher was on the phone while I did it to be safe. But, the parents weren't happy and threatened to sue the school because of it. Endangerment of a minor, but they were the ones who kicked their kid out. So, to settle it, I left and they got a free pass. Pissed me off so I still called CPI on them but ... ,"

"Strongly suggested …," Maka mumbles, looking to the carpet. "That's crazy. You did the right thing."

"Like I said when I first met you, this district sucks."

A voice comes over the intercom at about six pm and it makes both of them jump. Maka was going to each desk, ensuring every student had the correct folders with the correct names and some basic supplies. Soul was typing away furiously, getting in the lesson plans for reading and writing. Medusa was no help, so they split it up themselves.

"For those on campus," Dr. Mortimor's voice bellows, "staff meeting in the media center. We have a surprise!"

"It better be alcohol," Soul mutters as he closes his laptop. Maka makes a noise in agreement and the two drag themselves to the media center. The smell of pizza hits them when the door opens. "Well, not as good, but still great."

"You guys made it!" Blake shouts from across the room, holding a slice of pizza in the air. A tall woman stands next to him, one Maka has not met yet, and she blushes furiously at the man's outburst.

"What's a P.E. coach doing here so late," Soul jokes as the two joined him.

"Tsubaki's class was officially assigned to me for P.E. so we were going over some of her student's files," Blake took a bite of the slice, "she's got the unit of students with EBD."

"She has the unit of students with EBD," Soul groans.

"Maka Alabrn," she holds her hand out, "and this is Soul Evans. We're co-teachers for third grade."

"Blake's told me about you. Mostly Maka, but now that you're here, Soul, he has even more to talk about."

"Geez," Soul rubs the back of his neck, "I don't know if that is a compliment or an insult."

"Both," Maka and Tsubaki answer seriously.

"Rude," Blake stretches his arms, pizza gone. "And I am going to head out. Just wanted to grab a slice before ditching."

"More like a box," Liz snorts, joining the group with a plate, "he was the first one in and the first one to leave. The Doc is doing something nice by getting us this. You know, for our hard work. It's not some 5.99 buffet."

"It's a tradition of mine to get at least ten hours of sleep the night before the first day of school," Blake rolls his shoulders and cracks a smile, "I'll see you all tomorrow. Good luck, Maks!"

He leaves with a bounce in his step and Maka can't help but smile. Blake never has a bad moment, he was always prepared when worse came to worse. But, she did feel a few eyes on her as she watched him leave. Did people really think like Medusa, wondering if Maka only got in because of her friendship with the man? Why else would these eyes linger on her as he left?

"Are you guys, like, a thing?" Liz sips at a cup of off brand soda, one eyebrow raised in question.

Oh, Maka thought, that's why.

"No, no," she flushes more which was not good for her defence, "We've been friends for a while now, almost five years. I was a freshman when he was an ending junior at our college, so he thought it would be cool to try and take me 'as a follower', which, in reality, we just ended up working on assignments together a lot."

"Hmm," Liz sips her drink again and this time her eyes flicker to Tsubaki, the quieter woman, who is looking at the ground with quite an interest. "Well, I guess that answers that question."

"I should head out too," Soul breaks the silence that's beginning to build, "I'll finish up the plans for tomorrow. Don't push yourself too much, let's me up at about seven here. Want to make sure you get a good night's rest before the first day."

"And, if it's successful, or not, we all go out for drinks after, so you have that to look forward to," Liz winks at the two before leaving with a slight wave and joining a different group of teachers.

"It is getting late, and I live about half and hour away," Maka checks her watch, "I just need to get some stuff from the classroom."

"See you later, Tsubaki. Nice meeting you," Soul smiles to the woman, a genuine one, and the two co-teachers leave.

Maka realizes then, that in just a little less than a week, she already knew the difference between his smiles. There's a tense one he wore whenever he was around a teacher he didn't particularly care for, but had to be nice to. Then, the gentle one, when he was trying to calm her down from whatever cliff she was jumping off because of one thing or another. A smirk, for when he was in a particularly snarky mood. And, his genuine smile, the one he wore the least in public, and made the sides of his eyes crinkle.

"This is us," Soul breaks Maka from her thoughts, once again, and held the door open. She gives him one of her genuine smiles, which she wore more often than him, and went inside. There's still a few piles around the room, but the anxious feeling she usually had in her stomach and chest was gone. Nothing she could do about the piles now, that was a problem for tomorrow, even if the thought made her sweat a little.

"I'm exhausted," Maka sighs as she collects her papers and folders from her desk, "maybe I'll start a tradition like Blake's."

"Yeah," Soul chuckles from across the room, collecting his own things as well. "Doesn't sound like a bad idea."

Maka hums in acknowledgement and then grunts as she swings her bag onto her shoulder. She turns toward her co and smiles once more.

"I don't think I have actually thanked you properly," she moves toward him and he just chuckles at her words again, "No, I meant it Soul. I know we're co-teacher's, and we need to do things together, but you didn't have to deal with so much of my crap."

"I just know what I felt like as a first year," he turns toward her, his own bag across his shoulder, "Excited, anxious, but mostly doubtful of my own skills. I remember what it was like to want someone so bad who I could vent to or turn to. So, I just wanted to make sure you know I can be that person for you."

"Thanks Soul," She smiles at his words and feels her face flush. They stand there for a moment longer, eyes lingering, before Soul clears his throat.

"See you tomorrow," he says once they reach the parking lot. Maka smiles and nods before climbing in her car. It takes her another moment before she can start her car and tells herself that the light, fluttering feeling in her chest was first day jitters.


End file.
